


12 Days of Christmas

by StoriesBeyondTheStars



Series: Teacher AU [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Married Klance, Not related to any actual challenge or the song, Teacher AU, just 12 days of klancey fluff, minor hints/mentions of sex but it's just husbands being silly, they all teachers here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:41:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28081839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoriesBeyondTheStars/pseuds/StoriesBeyondTheStars
Summary: 12 short, fluffy, Christmas-themed, klance oneshots. They all take place in a modern AU where the characters are all teachers at the same high school, though it's really focusing more on their first Christmas as a newly married couple.
Relationships: Acxa/Veronica (Voltron), Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Allura/Lotor (Voltron), Curtis/Shiro (Voltron), Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), might be small mentions of:
Series: Teacher AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2057253
Comments: 43
Kudos: 98





	1. Lights

Their house wasn’t very big. It was a simple, little, one story bungalow, but they didn’t need very much. The siding was kind of an ugly yellow colour that they’d love to update in the future, once they saved up for renovations, but it’d do for now. What made this place stand out to them was the fenced in backyard.

It was a basic place with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an open-concept kitchen and living room. Some features were definitely outdated, but they had plans for everything. Plans for their lives and future together. It wasn’t the perfect place, but Keith still desperately loved it, because it was  _ their _ home. It wasn’t living between two separate apartments, and then trying to cram into one of them when they realized that they wanted to live together. It wasn’t staying with Keith’s parents while they were between places (which had been super awkward). It was theirs.

His new home with his new husband.

Lance seemed just as enthused about the idea of having their own home, and wanted to experience everything with gusto. That included decorating their home for Christmas.

“It has to be tasteful,” Lance said, flyers spread out across their kitchen table showing upcoming Black Friday deals. There was a slight manic look in his eyes. “But it also has to be amazing and everything Christmasy.”

Keith simply stared at his husband blankly. They put up Christmas lights and decorations when he was growing up, but he knew the McClain house tended to go hard, and Lance was one of the worst. Halloween had been intense.

Well, he did knowingly marry a _ drama _ teacher, so Keith kind of had to roll with it. He loved him to pieces anyway, even if Lance was a little bonkers at times.

That was how they ended up braving the stores on Black Friday to try and get the best deals on Christmas lights and ornaments. They recruited Pidge, Hunk, Allura, and Shiro to go with them for their mission, though they all ended up getting separated anyway in the chaos.

Keith was pretty sure that some of their students recorded him full-on parkouring over the shelves in an aisle to get to where he needed to be, but whatever. Those guys put anything mildly entertaining online, and Keith knew for a fact that they had recorded him in gym class before. So long as it wasn’t anything inappropriate, he didn’t particularly care. He had nothing to hide.

Though if their superintendent was anyone but Alfor Leonheart, he might have had a different opinion of it. Like, their former principal, Zarkon (the absolute dick who got fired the year before) absolutely would have fired him over the video, calling it unprofessional.

Perhaps it was, but Keith would do it again to see Lance’s face light up when he realized that he got him that stupid dinosaur blow-up decoration.

They made off like thieves that day, getting everything that they wanted. Keith wasn’t quite sure if Pidge legally got all that tech stuff, but he wasn’t going to question it. Not when he could focus on his extremely happy husband like the secret sap he was.

Of course, Keith kind of forgot that getting the lights was one thing, but putting them up was another. They couldn’t just wrap them around the fence and railing, no, they needed to be up on the roof too. True, it wasn’t a tall roof, but there was already snow out there, and a storm was supposed to be coming. That meant that they needed to get everything out before it became dangerous.

“It’s just a bit cold, you big baby. I can’t believe Mr. Too-Cool-Gym-Teacher is afraid of some snow.” Lance teased him as they set up the ladder. Only one of them would be going up, the other stayed down to keep it secure.

Keith hugged himself a little bit, because it was cold, and cold was evil. “I grew up in the  _ desert _ , Lance.”

“And I grew up in Cuba.”

“You grew up here and have visited Cuba like, twice.” It was probably more than that, but Keith was making a point.

“Excuse you, I’ve gone there for a month every summer since I was born.” Lance held out his hand, and Keith knew exactly where this was going. They played three rounds of rock-paper-scissors, resulting in Keith’s loss and Lance’s firm victory. That meant that he was going up the ladder.

Keith looped the lights over his shoulder and shoved the clips into his pockets like he was gearing up for war. He stepped onto the first rung of the ladder, and Lance suddenly appeared in front of him, reaching out to touch his cheek.

“Hey.” His voice was softer now. “If you really don’t want to go up, I will.”

“No, I’ve got it.” Keith couldn’t deny that a protective part of him didn’t want his husband to be up on the roof in case he slipped. A slip from that height wouldn’t be deadly (unless they really fell the wrong way), but the thought of Lance getting hurt didn’t settle well with him. It wasn’t that he was fragile or anything, the bugger looked lanky, but was stronger than most people thought with his stupid swimmer’s strength. Keith just didn’t want him hurt.

That was too sappy for right now though, so instead he said, “Pretty sure it’ll go faster if you’re down there, otherwise you’ll just have to keep going up and down because it’s not exactly how you want it.”

“Excuse you, what do you take me for? A director? A stage manager?” Lance had pointed a finger at him, but then paused in thought and nodded his head. “You’d be right. Chop chop, we’re losing daylight.”

“You’re lucky I love you,” Keith replied as he focused on climbing. A small yelp escaped his lips when he felt Lance swat his ass. When he glared down at him, the jerk had an unrepentant smile on his face.

“What? It was there, and I like it. I couldn’t not.”

Keith rolled his eyes and kept climbing, deciding not to approach the topic of his husband’s fascination with his ass right now. That was something they could focus on  _ later _ , in a warmer environment.

The roof actually wasn’t that slippery, which was good, because Lance did, indeed, make him move things around if it wasn’t quite right.

At some point, Lance let Kosmo out into the yard. Their puppy was only five months old now, meaning he was a bundle of energy and play, zooming around the yard like the little weirdo he was. Keith adored him. Of course, he was the one to find the husky-mix in a ditch, just barely old enough to be away from his mother.

Lance pouted that Kosmo seemed to prefer Keith, but that was fine. Azure, their cat, preferred to chill with Lance anyway since he spoiled her to pieces (or maybe because he was her original owner, but whatever).

“Kosmo.” Keith snickered a bit as the puppy looked around, clearly trying to find him. He bounded around in confusion, settling on chasing his tail instead. What a weirdo. Keith loved him.

“So mean,” Lance laughed. That apparently alerted Kosmo to where Keith was, starting a round of wild barking as the puppy paced relentlessly by the side of the house.

Though he still didn’t like the cold, Keith had to admit that he liked this. He liked that he was doing this with his little family at their own house.

He secured the lights until he was almost at the side of the house, where they would drape down instead of staying tight across it.

“It’ll make it look like the Grinch is stealing them!” Lance enthusiastically explained, because of course their lights had to have a story.

He made his way back to the ladder, and almost successfully got back to the ground. He was only a few rungs away when his foot slipped, and he ended up tumbling backwards, smartly letting go of the ladder so that it didn’t fall on top of him. That would have hurt more than the slight impact of hitting the snow did.

Keith didn’t hit the ground, instead stumbling back into Lance’s arms, who just barely managed to keep them up right. He looked up at him, a softness appearing in his eyes as Lance looked him over, clearly worried. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” He would have been fine if he hit the ground too, he wasn’t that high up, but Keith liked this too. It was nice to have his husband come to his rescue sometimes. Lord knew that Lance got into so many crazy scenarios that Keith had to get him out of over the years. This was nothing in comparison.

Kosmo seemed to disagree, howling wildly as he ran in circles around them.

“I’m fine you little weirdo.” Keith straightened himself, and then swooped down to pick up the puppy, who was admittedly quite big now. He grunted a bit, Kosmos flailing wildly in his arms, trying to lick his face. Instead of struggling, he simply put the dog on the ground, picked up a snowball, and threw it. Kosmo chased after it eagerly, sniffing through the snow as if to find it. He’d be distracted for a while.

“So mean,” Lance snickered.

“Does the house look okay?” Keith asked, deciding not to address that.

Lance’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, come take a peek.” They walked over to the side of the road, making sure to close the gate behind them so Kosmo wouldn’t take off. Keith had to admit, seeing the whole thing lit up really did make it look nice. 

Something warm settled within him. This was  _ their _ home that they decorated for the holidays together, because they were going to celebrate it however they wanted, adopting old family traditions, but also making them their own.

Keith glanced up at Lance, who smiled back at him with warm excitement, and in that moment, he knew that he’d climb up onto a hundred stupid roofs for this man. Even in the cold.

Lance would be there to make him warm afterwards anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


	2. Snow

It was far too early in the morning to be awake, and uncaffeinated. Lance was fairly certain that the people that said they didn’t drink coffee were witches or something. He didn’t want to drink coffee yet, not if the news that they were hoping for was about to come through.

The wind whistled outside, small snowflakes hitting the window rapidly. That was a good sign, a very good sign, but it didn’t necessarily mean anything yet. It could be a false hope that he didn’t want to give himself.

Kosmo grumbled from his plush bed in the corner. He used to cuddle with them on their bed, still did depending on the weather, but he seemed to like having his own room, which was fair since their bed wasn’t exactly huge. On a shelf above his bed, Azure regarded them briefly before falling back to sleep, ever the princess.

Keith tapped his phone from his spot beside him, an almost manic look of desperation across his face. “Come on, come on.” God, Lance pitied those kids if they had to go to school later, Keith was going to be  _ so _ grouchy.

Though grouchy Keith was kind of hot, especially when he had crazy morning hair, and his overly big tanktop (which Keith dubbed his dudebro tank) was slipping off his defined shoulder. Lance’s tired brain was instantly distracted by that, because it was a very nice shoulder attached to a very nice arm. His man worked out and you could tell. Once upon a time Lance had been kind of jealous about it, but really, he reaped the benefits now. Keith seemed to like him too, so it was a win-win thing.

Their phones buzzed at the same time and Lance launched himself at his, even though Keith already had his in hand. It wasn’t like they were going to get different emails or anything like that. Lance whooped excitedly when he read the closure notice due to weather.

Okay, now teachers weren’t supposed to advertise that they were excited for snow days or anything like that. It was unprofessional. But snow days were awesome!

Keith dropped his phone back on his bedside table and slumped back down to cuddle back into the blankets and get a few more hours of elusive sleep, but there was a problem. The problem being that Lance was now awake. That little adrenaline spike did him dirty.

“Keith,” he whined, flopping on top of him.

“Go back to sleep,” his husband groaned as he rolled onto his side, back towards him, but there was already a weary tone, like he knew that it wasn’t going to happen. That was fair. This always happened.

Lance tugged him closer. “Or, since we’re both awake, we could do a bit of early morning exercise, then sleep later, if you get what I mean.” He wiggled his eyebrows dramatically.

Keith groaned again, but rolled over onto his back. “You’re doing all the work.”

“Lazy,” Lance teased, but he couldn’t complain, he was getting what he wanted.

It was going to be a good morning.

…

No one truly appreciated sleeping in late like those who always had to be up early. Like, Lance was pretty sure his husband was an absolute heathen who got up early all the time, even weekends, but snow days were the exception. They were the day when there were zero expectations from anyone. There was no need to plan their lessons for the next day, those were already done. There was no need to run around and do different errands. No family that they needed to visit.

So Lance didn’t feel at all guilty about sleeping late into the morning, especially after their…strenuous activity when it was very early.

He was a little miffed though that Keith’s version of sleeping in was different than his. It was an old argument, where Keith was up by nine no matter what, while Lance tended to sleep in until nearly noon. If you were going to do it, might as well go hard, right?

“Shouldn’t you be  _ sore _ ?” Lance muttered to him when he got up earlier.

Keith snorted. “Wasn’t that impressive.”

Oh no, that was not going to fly. Lance opened his eyes, met his husband’s gaze, and perfectly mimicked one of the particularly loud sounds Keith made earlier. Keith flushed brightly and smacked him with his pillow before getting up.

Just as well, Lance hated for him to go, but did he  _ ever _ love watching him leave. Honestly, he was more betrayed when Kosmo followed along with him rather than staying to cuddle. The jerk.

“Psst, psst, psst.” Lance held his arms out towards Azure, mentally cheering as she came towards him. His beautiful, blue-eyed girl never let him down.

They’d settled to sleep for a couple more hours, but Lance had to admit that it was time to wake up and get moving. He didn’t want to completely sleep the snow day away. Besides, Azure had ditched him at some point while he was asleep, and as much as he’d love to judge her, Lance was pretty sure she left for food.

There was a plate of eggs and bacon in the microwave for him, an attempt to keep it a little warmer. There was coffee waiting in the pot, and slices of bread sitting in the toaster, ready to be toasted. Keith wasn’t the best cook in the world, neither of them were overly fantastic or anything, but trying meant more to him than anything else. Lance’s favourite way to cook was when they did it together, dancing around one another in the kitchen.

Okay, maybe he was a sap that just loved doing everything with his husband.

Lance found Azure sitting on the window ledge, her tail flicking as she stared outside. He sat down at the table with his reheated food and looked to see what captured her attention.

A startled laugh escaped his lips as he saw Kosmo tear through the yard like a crazy person, kicking up snow behind him. He skidded to a stop, spinning in a circle, before taking off towards the fence again, his tail wagging insanely fast. A ball flew over the fence, and the puppy nearly lost his mind over it.

If he wasn’t a husky mix, Lance might worry about him being out in the snow, but from how warm breakfast still was, he knew that the dog hadn’t been out there long. Plus, it wasn’t like they were going to leave him outside. Kosmo was clearly having fun anyway.

After eating, Lance washed the dishes and went to look for his wayward husband. He didn’t have to go far when he saw Keith launch himself over the fence into the backyard. Kosmo started barking and jumping at him excitedly.

“What a  _ dork _ ,” Lance muttered, because of course Keith probably went outside to shovel the driveway even though the snow was still falling, and of course he chose to jump over the fence instead of tracking snow through the house to go play with Kosmo. God, he loved him.

So naturally, Lance had to go and put on his snow gear too, including snow pants and thick gloves, making his way out back. Keith had yet to notice him, but that was just as well. It gave Lance time to make a few snowballs before accurately launching one towards his husband.

Keith squawked as he was hit in the head, spinning around to look at him. Lance laughed and beamed another snowball at him, hitting him in the chest.

With a kind-of-hot growl, Keith scooped snow up to throw it back. Lance laughed once again and ran off of the step. “You sure you wanna do that? I am the sharpshooter.” His eyesight and aim were fantastic. He would have made an excellent sniper in another life. As it was, he was the one between the two of them that was licensed to carry. Keith was more of a ‘bring a knife to a gunfight and still win’ kind of guy.

That was why Lance had to keep his distance to win, so when Keith ran at him, he took off, pelting him with snowballs as he went. Kosmo absolutely lost his marbles, running around the perimeter of the yard in circles.

Azure was probably watching them from the window like they were crazy, maybe a few neighbours too, but that was fine. This is exactly what snow days were all about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


	3. Hot Chocolate

Let it be known that Keith loved teaching. It wasn’t something that he thought he’d be good at, or was even interested in in. Hell, he went to school for archaeoastronomy. At the end of his degree though, he felt a little lost, loving the topic but not entirely sure where he wanted to go next. His brother was the one that got him to volunteer at the youth center, teach some self-defense classes, and claimed that he had a knack for it.

Keith trusted Shiro, he already had his Bachelor of Education and was a teacher at their local high school (while working on his Masters at the same time). So though he was a bit dubious about the whole thing, he took a leap, filled out the essays, the forms, got references.

He ended up having a blast in teaching school, and found that he really did mesh well with high school kids, who seemed to latch onto his dry humour (even though they were repeatedly told not to be sarcastic) and straightforward personality. One kid told him that they liked how he didn’t bullshit any of them, which was good to know. Due to a combination of his performance, and thanks to Shiro, Keith started teaching social sciences (including intro to anthropology, sociology, astronomy, and a few other things). Few people got in right away without those connections, as sad as it was to say.

Their asshole principal, with the excuse of saving money, ended up eliminating a lot of ‘useless’ electives, including basically everything Keith taught. He was just glad that he was seen as useful enough to just get moved over to the gym classes instead of sent to another school entirely. He ended up really liking the classes, especially the outdoor survival (outdoor pursuits…whatever…they all knew what it really was) ones. It wasn’t something that he pictured himself doing, didn’t study for it, but he liked it. Loved it even. He especially liked the trips that he would take with the grade 12 students.

That said, he wasn’t too impressed on the way back. Weather took a surprise turn for the worst (because no one could trust the weather network ever), and the heater on the bus broke. It was either waiting for an extra hour outside for a new bus, or sucking it up and going home on the cold one. They opted for the cold one. That meant a bunch of complaining teenagers and a couple others that came with him as chaperons of sorts (even if they didn’t actually need them).

By the time Keith got back to the school, it was already dark. Sure, his car was blissfully warm, but his clothes were wet and that bone-deep chill wouldn’t go away. He made sure to complain to Lance via text message at every red light.

When he finally got in the house, he barely managed to set down his bags when he was attacked by his husband with a warm blanket.

“You’re  _ freezing _ ,” Lance noted, brow furrowing in concern. “Let’s get you out of those wet clothes.”

“You just want me naked.”

“I mean, it’s a bonus.” Lance shrugged, not the least bit ashamed. “But I’m more concerned about you getting a cold. I hope you told the kids to get warm.”

“I did.” Of course he did. Keith might let himself get sick, but he made sure that they knew how to properly warm themselves up again.

He stripped at the front door, allowing Lance to bundle him in the warm blanket before he went off to have a shower. As much as Keith would love a hot one, he knew going super hot wouldn’t be good for him at all. As it was, the warm water felt like it was scalding his skin.

Lance apparently left his warm pyjamas in the room while he was in the shower, and that little gesture alone was enough to warm him up. Seriously, he loved his husband so much.

Of course he ended up sitting at the kitchen table, letting Lance blow-dry and braid his hair while he ate warm (canned) soup and crackers. (Lance said that he already ate.) It was simple, but really, really nice.

After the fact, they moved to the couch, and Lance abandoned him to go back to the kitchen. Keith pouted a bit, but he was warm and comfortable. Not only that, but Azure and Kosmo were curled up together on the floor and it was the most precious thing ever that he couldn’t not be delighted, and he couldn’t not take a billion pictures. What kind of pet parent would he be otherwise?

Keith perked up when Lance’s footsteps padded back into the room. He turned to show him the pictures, but his heart leapt with excitement and that was completely forgotten. Why? In his hands were two large mugs filled with a sweet smelling, steaming liquid.

Let it be known that Lance made the best hot chocolate, bar none. Keith could go to some fancy café with a wide selection of different hot chocolates, and none would even come close. It wasn’t something he made often, a special treat for those cold and gloomy nights.

“Thanks,” Keith said as he carefully took one of the mugs into his hands, staring at it almost reverently.

Lance chuckled, setting his own on the coffee table before sitting beside him. He made sure that the blanket was over both of their shoulders before grabbing it again and leaning back against the couch, and Keith leaned against his side.

Neither one of them said much, but there really was no need for it. Some people might do exciting things on a Friday night, but this - curling up together while sipping on the world’s best hot chocolate – was way better. This, Keith decided, was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


	4. Sleigh Bells

Keith, Lance decided, was oddly excited, and that made him a little bit wary. It wasn’t that he didn’t want his husband to be excited about things. It was more that the last time he was this jittery, they ended up going hiking to look at ancient ruins. It was cool, and Lance did like the outdoors, just not what he expected.

That was one of the benefits of dating—and then marrying—Keith. He didn’t exactly tick the same way other people did. When other people heard date, they thought of going to the movies or out to eat, but not Keith, no. He loved to find unique things for them to do, even if it meant a little bit of travelling. Of course, this meant that Lance had to step things up too.

They also had this  _ thing _ that they were doing. The thing being that none of the students knew for sure that they were together, let alone married. Well, they knew that  _ Lance _ was married now, since he wore a wedding ring on his finger, but Keith didn’t seem to have one (it was around a chain on his neck, tucked under his shirt). So they didn’t really go to places popular with students unless they were in a group.

It wasn’t that they were ashamed of one another, or that there was any kind of problem, no, it wasn’t that at all. It was  _ the bet _ . The entire staff had a bet to see which one of them would slip up first, or when the students would figure it out, and some were oddly invested.

He was getting sidetracked by his own thoughts. Moral of the story was that they went on unique dates, and Lance had the right to remain wary when Keith put a blindfold on him while they were walking across ice and snow. Of course he trusted his husband to catch him if he slipped, Keith’s reflexes were wild to the point where Lance was pretty sure he was part alien (Tex was way too…well…Texan to be an alien, but Krolia was suspect).

“This isn’t even the potential fun kind of banging with a blindfold on.”

“I will walk you into a snowdrift.”

The jerk probably would, and laugh about it. Lance’s husband was a  _ jerk _ .

So yes, he was allowed to be a bit suspicious, especially since they’d driven quite a while to get there. He didn’t like being blindfolded like that, since for all he knew, Keith had been driving in circles just to surprise him by going to their local Denny’s or something (that literally happened once at like three in the morning).

Maybe it was because he was devoid of his sight right now, but Lance swore that he heard the small tinkle of a bell. At first, he thought that he was kind of going crazy, like the spirit of commercial Christmas had finally come for him. Then Keith stopped and said, “Wait here.” He spoke low and close to his ear, causing Lance to shiver. Good lord he loved Keith’s voice. It was deep and husky, almost like he didn’t use it that often. Not that Lance had a high pitch voice or anything, but he just loved Keith’s.

Still, it was kind of awkward just standing who knows where with a blindfold on. It was a good thing that he trusted Keith.

Footsteps crunching over snow sounded Keith’s arrival, his hands going to his face to lift the blindfold. Lance blinked a few times, looking down the slight distance to his partner, who smiled back at him warmly. “My favourite thing to see for the first time.”

Keith chuckled, cheeks going pink, before he nodded behind him and said, “Come on.”

Lance looked, and then his heart leapt. In front of him was a full-blown horse-drawn carriage, with tinsel, bells, and everything else. The driver even had a top hat on. “What?”

“You always said that you wanted to go on a romantic sleigh ride,” Keith answered, his voice almost bashful. “So I did some research and found that they were booking charity sleigh rides for the Children’s Hospital a few towns over.”

“I love you,” Lance said, full of emotion over the entire thing. Really, he loved his husband so, so much that he could almost cry over just how thoughtful this entire thing was. He’d had some really bad luck with relationships in the past, but with Keith he never once doubted just how much his husband cared. They could be angry at one another, but the security in their relationship was still there.

He held out his arm, and Keith quickly looped his through it. He raised an eyebrow as Lance guided them over towards the sleigh and said, “Aren’t I supposed to be leading?”

“We’re going on a romantic horse-drawn sleigh ride with jingle bells and everything. This calls for some proper dramatics.” Lance felt giddy and silly, and knew that if he wanted Keith to be silly, he’d had to start it first. Sure enough, his husband rolled his eyes but didn’t pull away. He just rolled with the situation, because he was ride or die like that.

The man actually tipped his hat to them as they climbed in, and Lance took the full opportunity to snuggle into Keith’s shoulder, enjoying the way his arms wrapped around him. It was nice, curled up together while moving through the brisk December air, the sound of the sleigh bells jingling merrily.

This, to Lance, was what Christmas magic felt like. As much as he loved the aesthetic, it wasn’t some strange abstract thing that led to more presents. It was taking the opportunity to show someone you loved that you loved them, while surrounding themselves in an environment of cheer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


	5. Carols

Staff Christmas parties could get kind of wild. Keith knew that Lance didn't get to experience what they were like while Zarkon was still the school principal, before everything went down with him and a bunch of other teachers caught in some sketchy, illegal dealings. He was only a supply teacher at the time, not having the same luck Keith did in getting a full time job. It was super awkward.

This was way more fun already. They had a whole bunch of new, younger teachers now, and even the older ones were way more chill now that Shiro was the principal. Keith, for one, was glad that Lance in particular was there with him. He wasn’t quite sure that he would have been as comfortable without him.

Sure, Hunk was always fun to be around, Pidge was hilarious in her own way, and Allura was some kind of saviour that he had clung to the year before (since she was there with him then too). But Lance was  _ his  _ Lance, and he loved being around him. It was why he married him a little sooner than what their families thought they should, but there were zero regrets so far.

Keith was in a very happy headspace. He had just enough spiked eggnog to be pleasantly tipsy, but not an outward sloppy drunk. Most people seemed to think that he’d be a mean drunk, but that wasn’t true at all. He tended to be a happy one, going from chill and content, to full on cuddly, to maybe a bit frisky if he was with Lance. As much fun as the last one was, he didn’t want to act like that at a staff party.

Currently, Keith was beside Pidge, the two of them watching intently as Shiro’s face steadily turned a shade of red, a vein throbbing in his head, as he talked to Slav.

“Give it ten more minutes,” Pidge decided. “He’s Shiro, he’ll keep his cool.”

“No way.” Keith shook his head. “Another minute.” As his younger brother, Keith knew exactly how to push his buttons, and how far he could go. They’d been together all of Keith’s life at least, since his parents had adopted Shiro three years before he was born. Despite being an expert in the art of getting under Shiro’s skin, never before had Keith seen him lose his cool so quickly. That was reserved for Slav only.

Keith braced himself, because Shiro was at his tipping point and he was about to win $10, when Lance swooped out of nowhere, throwing an arm over Shiro’s shoulder.

_ “Just hear those sleigh bells jingling…” _ Was he  _ singing _ ?

Pidge cackled at the turn of events. “You definitely lose.”

“That’s not fair,” Keith whined, drink sloshing in his cup. “No one can stay mad around Lance. The jerk.”

“Oh yes, how dare your husband bring joy into the room and stop your brother from losing his shit,” she snorted, before humming along with it. Of course she was happy, she won by default.

The singing continued, with Lance bringing more and more tipsy teachers in on it. Eventually, he got to Keith, throwing an arm over his shoulder as he belted out Jingle Bell Rock with pretty much everyone else.

Even Keith couldn’t stop himself from smiling and singing along with it, though he couldn’t hold a tune to save his life. No one ever really cared when they were singing carols though.

“Hey, hey, hey! You know what’d be hilarious!” Lance called out, interrupting the carolling. “What if—hear me out—what if we did this at lunch time?”

“Walk into the cafeteria and just start singing?” Allura asked, and if Keith wasn’t mistaken, her accent was a little more defined when she was tipsy. “A flash mob?”

“I hope it’s that and not getting drunk, cause I have to put my foot down for that,” Shiro added, more amused than anything else.

“Exactly! A flash mob!” Lance sounded positively exuberant about the idea. Either his eyes were sparkling, or Keith drank a little more than he thought he had.

He glanced down at his cup. Okay, yes, it was a little more than he thought. That was probably why he didn’t protest the idea at all when everyone else readily agreed, and started to plan out exactly what they were going to sing.

…

The students were suspicious, and it amused Keith far,  _ far _ more than it should. There was always a teacher around at lunch on duty, and it was common to see others wandering by to get food, to head to the office, or going on duty in other spots. For so many of them to just be lingering about though? Yeah, the paranoia was warranted.

Pretty much any teacher and support staff that wasn’t needed somewhere else was hanging around. There was whispering and side eyes, a few people already bringing up their phones, no doubt suspecting that  _ something _ was about to go down.

Then, of course, Lance (who was supposed to be on cafeteria duty anyway that day), purposely stumbled into the tree (successfully avoiding the Hanukkah display that the students painstakingly put together after Zarkon refused to allow them to buy anything the year before).

Okay, maybe Keith looked a little love-struck as he watched his wonderfully stupid husband put on a show, but he couldn’t help it. This whole thing was staged and just  _ so _ Lance to do. They couldn’t just start singing, no. They needed to make a show out of it.

Lance popped back up, and started his rendition of Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (because of course he did), other teachers launching into it too.

For a moment, most students seemed stunned, because yeah, their teachers were  _ nerds _ , but it did earn some laughter, and some people started caroling with them.

At some point, Keith ended up at Lance’s side, and he just knew that at least one suspicious kid probably took a picture of them. He hoped that it ended up on that ‘#myteachersaretogetherandhereswhy’ thread. It amused him a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


	6. Tree

Lance’s family always had artificial trees. With so many kids and limited funds, it just made sense to have a tree that they could reuse year after year. Even when it got a little old and ratty, his mother always made it look spectacular when she decorated it. It was clearly some kind of witchcraft.

That was why, though they originally budgeted for a simple artificial Christmas Tree, Lance ended up talking Keith into getting a real tree, at least for this year. They still had the teeny tree from their apartment (it was already decorated and placed outside), but they both wanted a bigger one, and Lance  _ really _ wanted a real one.

So they reworked their budget, looked into anything they needed to actually have a real tree in their house, and how to properly dispose of it afterwards, though Keith mentioned about seeing if they could use it for their firepit so that it could actually be put to use and not just tossed somewhere.

If Lance was honest, he kind of had an idealized thought of going out into the forest and cutting down their own perfect tree, so he was slightly disappointed that they ended up going to a lot where a cranky man was selling them. How someone could be in the Christmas Tree business and be cranky, Lance couldn’t fathom, and he didn’t appreciate it ruining what could have been a super fun, super cute time with his husband.

Though they  _ did _ manage to get a pretty spectacular tree, so there was that.

“My hands are covered in sap,” Keith complained when they finally got the tree upright inside their house. Kosmo was sniffing around it like crazy, while Azure eyed it like she was sizing up her new scratching post.

“Well I mean, it is what you are—don’t touch me!” Lance ended in a shriek, dodging his husband’s sticky hands. Keith stared at him, and he stared back, both of them tense. Lance then took off running as Keith leapt at him with his hands outstretched.

Hopefully the neighbours wouldn’t think that they were trying to kill one another this time.

…

“The worst,” Lance muttered as he tried to get the sap out of his hair. “That’s you, you know that? The  _ worst _ .”

“And yet, you asked me to marry you,” Keith replied, completely unrepentantly, having already cleaned his hands off. Lance wasn’t looking at him, but he just  _ knew _ that Keith had that stupidly hot, smug smirk on his face. The nerve of him. It wasn’t  _ Lance’s _ fault that he was weak to his hotness. And his personality. And just his general Keithness. That was entirely Keith’s fault.

Well, at least he went ahead and dragged out the decorations that they bought on Black Friday for the tree. If it had a theme, Lance liked to call it classic Christmas. There were reds, greens, golds, silvers, kind of cheap and gaudy looking things. There were bows, bells, stars, candy canes, and so much more.

Lance coordinated decorating the tree as if it were a play. This was his set, and he wanted it perfect. Not that he ignored Keith’s input or anything like that, but Keith seemed pretty content to just go along with whatever he did. That kind of made sense. Keith’s family had a strange hodge-podge of a tree with no rhyme or reason, pieces added and built up over time. It was kind of glorious. Lance’s old family tree was like that too, but Veronica, Rachel, and Marco had embraced the whole concept of a specific aesthetic (blues and silvers, pinks and purples, silver and golds only, respectively). He was glad Keith wasn’t like that.

Getting the lights on was the first struggle. Their tree was a little bit bigger than Lance anticipated now that it wasn’t all wrapped up. They didn’t quite have enough, so they had to space them out differently. Keith, being the trooper he was, shimmied behind the tree so that they could toss the lights, and then the garland, back and forth to one another to properly loop it. Lance was  _ not _ having one of those trees that was all party in the front and boring business in the back. Kind of the opposite of Keith’s hair.

Actually, no, his was just a party everywhere.

After that came putting the ornaments on the tree, to which Azure and Kosmo apparently  _ both _ had opinions of. Kosmo decided that the three was keeping his balls from him, and would growl at them, play bow, run around in a circle, rinse and repeat. Azure batted at them, and started trying to climb the tree before Lance caught her. That was going to end up being fun. So long as she didn’t turn out like the cat from Christmas Vacation, it would be okay though.

Lance was an optimist like that.

Once those ornaments were all placed perfectly around the tree, Lance went to the last one, very carefully handling the star that they were putting on the top. It wasn’t anything particularly fancy, but Lance still loved it. It was silver with lights and some iridescent sparkles throughout it. Very simple, but in a classy kind of way.

He eyed the tree, and suddenly realized something. “It…might be a bit too big.” The top of the tree was pretty much brushing the ceiling.

Keith snorted with amusement before coming up to him. “I’ll lift you up.”

Uh, putting the star up on the top of the tree while in his husband’s very nice arms?  _ Yes please _ . Lance wasn’t even bothered by the fact that Keith didn’t actually wait for an answer, instead looping his arms around the back of his legs and lifting him up.

God, Keith was strong. He absolutely loved it.

With ease, Lance reached out and put the star onto the tree. It was absolutely perfect, and honestly, he was pretty thrilled with how everything turned out so far. Maybe Lance was a little bit dramatic, and all of the bells and whistles didn’t truly matter. He knew that. He also knew that he genuinely loved the atmosphere, the joy it brought him in particular. Christmas spirit wasn’t for everyone, it didn’t have to be by any means, but everything about it appealed to him. He was  _ so _ happy that Keith was down with the whole thing.

Keith let him slide down until his feet met the floor again. Lance looked down at the slight difference between them, smirking at him. “Well hello there.”

“Are you talking to my arms, or me?” Keith replied dryly, earning a loud laugh in return.

“I like other parts of you too,” Lance teased as he looped his arms over his shoulders, rocking them back and forth. Keith rested his head on his shoulder, and in turn, Lance rested his cheek on top of his head. They were slowly moving in circles, like two middle school students at a dance, albeit, standing a lot closer.

“It looks really nice,” Keith said as he regarded the tree. “You did an awesome job.”

“Teamwork, babe. This is both of us.” Lance pressed his lips to his forehead. “I really love you, you know that, right?”

He felt Keith’s smile against his neck. “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


	7. Gingerbread

“Hunk is making gingerbread houses!”

Keith looked up from his desk, where he was going over the list of broken supplies in the gym that needed to be replaced. The secretary insisted that he get it in as soon as possible, so he spent his prep period on that instead of prepping for his classes. They were just going to play dodgeball anyway, at the request of the students.

That didn’t mean he actually had time for his husband, as much as he loved him. He raised an eyebrow at Lance as he sat on the side of his desk without hesitation, excitement dancing in his blue eyes.

“Don’t you have a class?” Keith was pretty sure that they didn’t have the same prep periods.

“I had one student since everyone else was off on the museum trip. She asked to go to the library to work. Or she’s just wandering around somewhere. I dunno. Anyway, Hunk. gingerbread houses! His class is making them!” Lance waved his hands in the air excitedly.

“Okay?”

“We should make them!”

Keith actually laughed out loud at that one. “Neither one of us can bake.”

“That’s the  _ best _ part. Hunk said he’d make it for us. We can put them together tonight for date night” Lance widened his eyes. “Please?”

Oh  _ god _ , Keith was weak for this man. So, so pathetically weak. He caved into the eyes quickly. “ _ Fine _ .” He consoled himself with a mental reminder that it  _ was _ Lance’s turn to pick what they were doing for date night.

“Yes!” Lance launched himself off of the desk and kissed him on the cheek, glancing down at the spreadsheet. “What are you up to anyway?”

“Ordering gym supplies. Secretary is annoyed at people not giving her orders on things that she said it’s first-come-first-serve.”

Lance gasped loudly, straightening his back. “Forget your gym stuff, I need more props! I’m putting my order in first!”

A competitive flash went through Keith, and he quickly turned to his computer. “Like hell you are.”

His husband took off back to his own classroom. School supplies were not something to joke about, not even at Christmas time.

…

“Why is there so much of it?” Keith honestly expected six squares: four walls and two for a roof. That wasn’t what they got for gingerbread houses at all. There were windows, doors, chimneys and so much more.

Lance settled him with a dry look. “This is Hunk.”

Okay, that was a fair assessment. Hunk never did anything halfway when it came to cooking. Still, he wasn’t exactly sure what to make of it all. They went out and bought way too much candy and frosting to go with it.

Seemingly picking up on Keith’s confusion, Lance patted his arm and said, “Don’t worry baby, Hunk gave me some tips.” He grabbed one of their new frosting containers and started smearing it on the bottom of the tray. Lance then tried to put his walls up, but they kept falling over until he managed to make them stick by piling icing up around all four sides of it so that they looked like snowdrifts.

Keith snorted, and Lance shot him a glare. “Think you could do better?”

“Than that? Yeah.”

“Oh, it’s on!” Lance slapped his hand on the table. “We both make one, and then we ask everyone else to pick the winner. Loser has to do whatever the winner wants.”

A competitive fire welled up within Keith’s chest and he leaned forward slightly. “Bring it.” 

…

If Hunk was there with them, he would have been utterly  _ horrified _ at the state of their kitchen. It was a disaster. No, disaster was putting it mildly.

Once, when Keith was younger, his father tried to bake his mother a birthday cake, and they ended up having to replace the oven (thank god his father was a firefighter so the house didn’t burn down). Despite the fact that nothing in their house was destroyed, their kitchen somehow looked worse.

And okay,  _ maybe _ they had devolved into a childish battle of candy treats and icing (making sure that none of the chocolate got to where Kosmo could get it, though he was a good boy that didn’t beg for food anyway). And  _ maybe _ Keith accidentally crashed into the counter and toppled over the huge bin of flour that they had out for reasons that he didn’t understand, because they weren’t baking anything. And maybe that led to them throwing the flour at one another too.

Azure, like the smart kitty sure was, escaped the room early on. Probably thinking that she was above all of their shenanigans.

The area right around their gingerbread houses was pristine, but only because Lance cleaned it off to take pictures to send to their group chat. It was a half-assed attempt to make everyone believe that they were mature adults, but in reality, he had pushed the mess onto the floor, so they were really no farther ahead.

“They’re so going to like mine more,” Lance insisted as he sent the pictures.

Keith narrowed his eyes at Lance’s ‘house’. He used twice as much frosting as Keith, and though that made the walls stand up more, it really looked more like a giant snow drift covering a house that then got candy bombed.

Keith’s, on the other hand, was a weird wonky thing made from so many bits and pieces that it kind of reminded him of something that might be in The Nightmare Before Christmas. It wasn’t what he intended on making, but if anyone asked, Keith was totally saying it was.

“Pidge responded!” Lance said excitedly, and then read it out loud. “Option C: Those are both disasters and the kids in Hunk’s class did better. Rude as fuck.” He typed those words as he said them.

Keith laughed loudly, because she wasn’t wrong. The two of them definitely were disasters, but he’d rather be a disaster with Lance than having it all together on his own.

It was a ton more fun this way!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


	8. Fruitcake

Lance was trying not to laugh. He seriously was. His shoulders were shaking, and it almost hurt to keep it in, but dammit, he was going to.

It wasn’t  _ his _ fault that Keith was currently eyeing the cake in front of him like it was a live bomb. Though this wasn't their first Christmas together, it was their first Christmas as husbands, and this exact moment had become one of Lance’s absolute favourites.

Maybe he was wired wrong, but there was something about Keith’s scrunched up, unimpressed face that he just found, well, utterly adorable. He wasn’t trying to be demeaning or anything like that, it was just cute. Like, right up there with his pout when things weren’t going his way, his super flirty smile and eyebrow raise, how he’d actually close his eyes and take a deep breath, or when he genuinely smiled…okay Lance was just listing all of Keith’s faces in his head now. What could he say? He really liked it.

The object of his ire was a fruitcake. Not just any fruitcake though. No, this had to be the  _ worst _ fruitcake that Lance had ever tried in his life. Well, not this  _ specific _ one, he wasn’t stupid enough to poison himself year after year, but the first year he tried it against Keith’s warnings and he had  _ regrets _ . They were given the same cake year after year.

The funny part, the part that nearly had Lance in tears, was that Keith’s mother had the  _ exact _ same expression on her face as she regarded it. It really was that bad.

Then her eyes rose and met her son’s, a silent challenge between the two. Lance braced himself as they picked up the forks in front of them. He knew how this worked. If either one of them wavered, that person would bring shame to the family.

Well, not really, Lance didn’t entirely know that, but that’s how he pictured it in his head. He asked Keith once, and he said it was just what they did.

The Kogane’s were, admittedly, a super odd family.

As if to exemplify that point, Keith’s father leaned back a little more into the couch, regarding his wife and son with a rather sunny look. Between Keith’s two parents, Lance got along with Tex the best. First of all, his name was  _ Tex _ , and sure, Lance knew that his real name was Hisashi, but the fact that he just rolled with the nickname he was given due to his strong Texas accent was almost inspiring.

The man was just so easy going, despite the fact that he had to end his career in firefighting early due to an accident that almost took his life (and left him with a limp and permanent breathing issues). He kind of came across as intimidating at first, he was a tall man with a scar across his eye and everything, but Tex was super friendly. Krolia was the intense one between the two of them.

Perhaps it was because he almost lost his life that Keith and Krolia were like this, silently matching one another in their battle to eat their slices of fruitcake. Why was it so important?

Tex made it. He made it every year. He wasn’t a baker by any means, but this was something that didn’t just burn on sight (though he could make a mean steak). He seemed almost proud of it, so of course mother and son absolutely had to eat it to show their appreciation.

Lance was smart, he claimed that he was allergic to some of the ingredients before he was pulled into the tradition. It was even  _ funnier _ when all of the Koganes got pulled into it.

When Lance first met Keith, he kind of expected him to be an only child. Though his past was complicated, and he definitely had some issues with Krolia in particular, Keith actually had two adopted siblings, Shiro and Romelle, and his cousin Acxa lived with them since she was young. Shiro, Romelle, and Acxa were normally in on this tradition too, as were whatever partners they had at the time, since apparently Lance was the only intelligent one (he was including Veronica, who Acxa was seeing).

Keith and Krolia finished at about the same time, both praising Tex for another great fruitcake before they moved towards the counter, no doubt looking for coffee to drown out the bad aftertaste, or perhaps the dryness.

“I’ll let you in on a secret,” Tex said to him casually as they waited for their spouses. “I know it’s awful.”

Lance froze. What? “What?”

Tex met his gaze seriously. “You’re not really allergic to anything in it, are you, son?”

“No,” Lance admitted cautiously, not sure where this was going at all.

He nodded. “I tried it myself the first time I made it. It was awful.”

What the heck kind of plot twist was this? “I…then why…” Why did he bother making it?

“If they want to keep lying over how good it is, and having that pissing contest to see who can eat it, then I’m going to keep making it. You’re the only smart one so far. It’s why you’re my favourite son-in-law. I trust you to keep that secret.”

That was it. It was far too much for Lance. He doubled over, cackling loudly, tears streaking down his face as he shook. He looked up once to see Keith and Krolia looking at him like he was insane, which only set him off again.

Lance was going to honour his father-in-law no matter what and take that secret to the  _ grave _ with him. And hey, who knew, maybe he’d get in on it too in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to upload Gingerbread yesterday, so you get a double update today!
> 
> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


	9. Mistletoe

Growing up, Keith’s parents  _ did _ decorate their house for Christmas. He realized later on it was rather minimalistic, especially compared to what Lance’s family did. It was only natural for him to want to continue on the tradition of absolutely spamming their current home with Christmas decorations (in a tasteful way). Despite his more sparse upbringing, Keith just kind of rolled with it.

Most people didn’t realize that Keith was actually pretty chill with living in a home filled with decorations for whatever holiday was coming up, but he totally was. It wasn’t just because of Lance either, he genuinely liked it. There was something about it that really made the place they were living at  _ home _ .

They didn’t really decorate their apartment last year, splitting time between both of their families instead. This was the first time that they were decorating together, so of course Keith wanted to help however he could. These were moments that they’d never get back, moments his younger self never imagined that he’d actually have.

The end result was that their house looked like something out of one of those hallmark Christmas movies on TV. Lance was endlessly proud of it, sharing pictures on his socials (which Keith was smart to stay out of, otherwise the students would figure things out,  _ Lance _ ).

“We should make a display of lights to music next year!” Lance excitedly declared while they were watching TV one night. Well, they were sitting on the couch and the tv was going, but both of them were scrolling on their phones.

“We’re both teachers,” Keith answered without looking up. “We barely get enough money to afford the power bill as is.”

Lance spluttered, but didn’t actually argue the point, because he wasn’t wrong. It’d be nice to be paid for all the hours they actually worked. Or for the holidays and summer, like most people seemed to think that they were.

Besides, Keith liked their house. He thought the decorations were fun, but tasteful. Most of their friends and family that stopped by seemed to agree.

“Something’s missing,” Lance declared randomly one day. At Keith’s confused look, he clarified, “Our decorations. I don’t know what it is, but I know there’s something that I need here.”

Keith stared at him blankly before saying, “Our house looks like Christmas threw up on it.”

“Yeah well there’s something missing.”

“Gross.”

Keith had absolutely no idea what could possibly be missing from their house, and decided not to think on it too much.

So when Lance came flying into their home a couple days later, face flushed with excitement, and declared, “I found it!” Keith was, once again, more than a little confused. “What was missing! I found it.”

“Oh.” Right, that was a conversation they had. His bad. “What was it?”

“Nope! You shoo for a minute. Go to the bathroom or to bed or something while I put it up. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

That was more than a little weird, but it didn’t hurt him at all, so Keith rolled with it. He was kind of curious what Lance could possibly have in that little bag that was apparently so important.

When he was called out, Lance was standing by the front door with a mischievous smile on his face. “Come here.”

Keith’s eyebrow rose, and he was  _ instantly _ suspicious. At the same time, his lips ticked up into a slight smile. “You rigged something somewhere, didn’t you?”

“Come here and find out.”

“Nu uh.” He shook his head, and chuckled a bit as Lance made grabby hands at him.

“Come on, you’re being a fun-killer.” Lance stomped towards him and grabbed his hands. If Keith truly wanted to resist, he would have dug his heels into the floor, but he was kind of curious about where this was going.

A startled laugh escaped his lips as Lance pulled him close and spun them around a few times. Lance grinned at him broadly, and whispered, “Look up.”

Keith’s eyes rose, and he found himself staring at a bunch of leaves with some white berries hanging above them. That definitely wasn’t there before.

He once again turned his attention to Lance, who wiggled his eyebrows dramatically, and then it hit Keith what it was. He laughed and said, “Mistletoe?”

“Mistletoe,” Lance confirmed, clearly quite proud of himself. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but couldn’t stop grinning, “You know, you  _ could _ just kiss me. Oddly enough, I’m really okay with it. I mean, I did give you blanket permission before we got married.”

“I know, but this is  _ fun _ . It means that I can do things like this.” He spun them around quickly, and dipped Keith down into a kiss.

Keith wrapped his arms around Lance’s neck, smiling against his lips. He  _ almost _ expected Lance to over-balance and drop them both to the floor, but his husband managed to swing him back up almost gracefully.

“I  _ guess _ I like mistletoe,” Keith noted as they broke apart. He snickered a bit as Lance leaned forward and peppered small kisses on his face and neck.

“That’s good,” Lance muttered against his skin. “Just don’t get caught under it with anyone else when we have people over.”

He laughed out loud and hugged Lance closer. “You’re the only person I  _ want _ to kiss.”

“Oh good, that means we can focus on pairing other people underneath it. Veronica’s been pining over Acxa so bad, and like, they’re already dating? What kind of nonsense is that? So yeah, we’re pushing my sister and your cousin under the mistletoe.”

Keith snorted out loud and shook his head. Of course Lance had ulterior motives to setting it up. What a dork.

That didn’t stop Keith from pulling him back in for another kiss, effectively cutting off his rambling. Yeah, he liked mistletoe a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


	10. Gifts

If there was one thing that Lance loved about Christmas, it was gifts. He loved going out and shopping for the perfect gift to show someone that he cared, that he put an effort into getting something they would appreciate.

His approach to gift giving was a pretty simple three step list that he went through with every person:

One, does the person actually need something? A practical gift, while not overly exciting, was still welcomed by others, since it meant that they didn’t have to get it themselves. The older he got, the more he appreciated this kind of gift.

Two, is there a gift that shows that he knows the person – something that they’d like but not need, or something that was more sentimental than anything else? Those were the kind he loved buying, because he could show that he knew a person, that he listened to them.

Three, what would make them laugh? It was a pretty simple approach that he tended to take with Marco and Rachel more than anyone else, but it often worked with Hunk and Pidge too. Bringing laughter and joy to people was always a good thing.

Admittedly, sometimes Lance had to resort to gift cards. He didn’t like it, but he also knew that it was highly practical, especially for those that might be struggling.

Shopping for Keith was a little bit different though. Something he needed almost fell a little flat, because if he really needed it, odds were, Lance probably needed it too. At least for things around the house. Keith’s parents had already gotten him a new pair of sneakers for his classes (since the lucky bugger had a different dress requirement compared to the rest of them, often wearing a nice, zip-up workout top over a t-shirt, with those nice gym pants that didn’t make someone look lazy or sloppy. No ties or suits for him anymore.) and that was pretty much the only thing he  _ needed _ .

That left the other two options, and while Lance knew exactly what would make Keith laugh, he wanted to get something sweet and sentimental. Apparently Keith managed to find something really sweet for him, or so everyone kept saying. The jerks knew it would drive him bonkers, especially since he couldn’t find it in their house.

Lance, admittedly, also liked getting gifts at Christmas too. He wasn’t going to lie and say that ‘no, it’s ONLY the joy of giving that makes me excited for this holiday’. His Mamá didn’t raise no liar. So he was really excited to see what it was that Keith found. It was driving him batty, and fueling his pure competitiveness.

Keith wasn’t the  _ only _ one in their relationship who would get an awesome gift. He  _ refused _ to fall flat. Of course he knew that Keith would appreciate anything from him, he was a sap that way, but it  _ had _ to be good.

He even managed to get his Secret Santa something already. Getting Slav was a bit alarming, but he knew how to take a hint and the man apparently really wanted green socks. Why? Lance didn’t know. He wasn’t going to question it though.

(He actually traded with Shiro, who got Slav and looked like he was about to explode, so Lance took pity on him. It was probably better for his blood pressure to shop for the kind EA that loved baking.)

Still, as Lance sat in the food court at the mall, he was stumped over what to get his husband. That wasn’t fair at all. He was normally  _ fantastic _ at getting presents.

So lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Keith approach until he flopped into the seat beside him, prompting Lance to jump. Thankfully, Keith didn’t at all draw attention to it, immediately going into his own little tirade. “Are you  _ sure _ I can’t get a gift card for my secret Santa?”

“Well, you  _ can _ , but that’s kind of, you know, cheating?” Lance tried not to smile in amusement, because he  _ knew _ where this was going.

“It’s  _ Lotor _ though,” Keith groaned out. Lotor was Zarkon’s son, and while that made them all a bit wary, no one hated the former principal more than his son. Lotor was all too eager to testify against him. So he wasn’t a bad guy, just pretentious. “What am I supposed to get him? The luxury shampoo he uses? I don’t want to take out another mortgage!”

Lance laughed and patted his thigh. “Did you ask Allura yet?”

Keith opened his mouth to protest, but paused and stared off into the distance, as if he was perplexed in how he didn’t think of such a simple solution. If  _ anyone _ knew what to get him, it’d be Allura.

He immediately grabbed his phone to text her, leaving Lance to lean back and observe his husband.

Really, how Lance got lucky enough to have someone like Keith, he didn’t know. He went through a lot of struggles with his love life as a teenager who really just wanted what his parents had. Keith smashed through all the wariness he had, because though he seemed like a tough nut, he was fiercely loyal and loved with his entire heart.

So he really wanted to get him something memorable for their first Christmas as husbands. It sucked, because Lance knew that Keith would love getting  _ socks _ from him.

“Journals,” Keith spoke up, eyebrows shooting up.

“Huh?”

“That’s what Allura said to get Lotor. He’s big into research and prefers writing things in journals over using computers.” Keith stood up. “I’m going to head to the bookstore and grab one. Wanna come?”

“Nah, I’m going to sit here and fret.”

Keith snorted and ran his fingers through Lance’s hair. “If it’s about me, don’t worry. I’ll like anything you get me.”

“That doesn’t help at all.” He was a grown man, he  _ wasn’t _ pouting.

With a shake of his head, Keith leaned down and gave him a quick kiss before sauntering off. Well, he was  _ probably _ just walking, but in Lance’s mind, it was a teasing saunter. They weren’t normally so affectionate out in public, but he liked it.

What do you get someone who makes your entire world brighter? Who’s the freaking brightest star in your own personal sky?

Stars.

Wait a second.

Lance stood up so abruptly that he startled the old lady at the table next to him. He quickly apologized, but scurried off. Sometimes he forgot that though Keith was one of their Phys Ed teachers, he didn’t start that way, nor was that actually what he studied to become.

He felt like an idiot for forgetting that though he was a great gym teacher, a part of Keith’s mind was always turned up to the sky, and back to the past.

Suddenly, he felt excited again. Lance was going to get his husband the best gift ever! He wondered how hard it would be to find something that projected custom constellations or something like that? He’d have to find some star charts too. It was going to be awesome!

Lance might like getting gifts, but there was nothing quite like giving a gift to someone you loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


	11. Family

Lance’s family was loud and robust in a way that Keith never truly experienced growing up. Sure, he had a few siblings, but that wasn’t the same. Most of them were quiet, or knew how to be quiet. Well, except for Romelle, she was the loud one, but she alone couldn’t make up for the sheer experience of Lance’s family.

The McClain Christmas Eve party was big. It seemed like every person even mildly related made an appearance. People came and went as the night went on, the party not having a proper start or stop time. It was still early enough for parents to have their kids running around (all who were given a small, random present to entertain themselves with), but late enough where no one questioned anyone when they tried the spiced rum eggnog.

Keith was one of those people. He took his lactose pill, reminded Lance that he was the designated driver, and let himself indulge. It made getting through the whole thing a little bit easier.

Not that Keith hated Lance’s family, no, he quite liked them. He also liked how much  _ energy _ there was towards the holiday. It was easy to get caught up with genuine holiday spirit when it brought joy to so many people around him.

It was kind of wild to think that he was actually a part of this family now. He wasn’t just a boyfriend that may or may not be there the next year. He even had the name McClain now, well, Kogane-McClain, but it still wasn’t something that he was used to since most people referred to him as Mr. Kogane.

He managed to secure more eggnog, and a comfortable chair off in the corner, in the perfect spot to not draw attention to himself, while still being able to watch everyone else. It might have been a tad creepy, but he liked people-watching. He could tell that Marco definitely had way too many drinks at this point. Rachel looked like she was going to throw down with one of her cousins soon. Veronica was talking to someone else, while Acxa stood silently at her side, clearly uncomfortable with the environment. That was fair. Keith knew his cousin, and she was more introverted than he was. Luis and Lisa seemed to embrace the fact that there were many others there to look after their children (ranging from 13-year-old Silvio to 3-year-old Marissa).

It took Keith a little while to finally find his husband amongst the chaos, but wasn’t at all surprised to see that he was playing with the kids. Keith recognized Luis’, Rachel’s, and Marco’s kids, but there were a few others there too.

Lance would have been an astounding elementary teacher, Keith thought for the hundredth time. He decorated his classroom to be inviting and lively like one too, not like how most high school classrooms who were rather bare in comparison. Plus Lance taught like one too, focusing on the practical over things like tests.

He asked before why Lance didn’t go to an elementary school. He shrugged and said that he liked where he was and what he was doing, which was fair enough. Even Keith liked what he was doing, and it wasn’t at all what he went to school for. He just happened to be good at it.

Keith sank into his seat a little more, watching Lance play with the kids. Warmth rose up within him, because how could it not? Lance was just so good with them.

He brought his drink closer to his chest as the stray thought of what Lance would be like with  _ their _ kids came to him. That wasn’t something that he thought about often, though it was a conversation that they had before. Lance wanted kids in the future, but Keith never thought that it would be possible for him. He didn’t think he’d ever meet someone to have a family with (be it via a surrogate, or adoption).

That conversation though led Keith to realize that he wouldn’t mind it. Not right now, he truly did want Lance to himself for a while longer, but the thought of adopting a child appealed to him a little more. He knew that Lance wanted a baby, but Keith would really love to give a home to an older child.

Keith really admired his parents for that. They adopted Shiro when he was four, a whole three years before Keith was born. Keith himself was their only biological child—which was apparently a surprise and a miracle all rolled in one, since Krolia didn’t think she could carry a child to term.

Acxa came into their lives when Keith was 10 and she was 13. She’d been in foster care for a while at that point, since Krolia hadn’t had contact with her brother in years. Though it was on the table for her, Acxa decided that she didn’t want to officially be adopted, but that was fine. She had a home with them anyway.

Romelle came into their family first as a foster kid when Keith was 15 and she was 14, and when asked, she was very happy to be adopted. He knew that she once had biological siblings too, and maybe some of them were still out there, but she never wanted to talk about that, and no one ever reached out to her. It didn’t matter though, since she was  _ his _ little sister now.

So really, the thought of fostering and adopting children really wasn’t an out-there one for Keith at all. The thought of adopting an older child made sense with his own life experience too. He thought it was something worth fighting for, and honestly, Keith could see himself compromising with Lance. He knew that Lance would love a big family too, or at least two children, so maybe they could do both?

The thought really left him feeling warm, and it wasn’t just the alcohol.

When Lance finally found him, he sat on his lap and sighed. “Sorry. My family is nuts.”

“I kind of like it,” Keith admitted as he ran his hand through Lance’s hair.

“I like yours. It’s a different kind of crazy, but a good kind.”

That was fair. Tomorrow they would go to his parents’ house and deal with his siblings and their partners, but it would be a much calmer atmosphere. Keith liked  _ that _ too. That they could have both and neither one felt strange. That they could be quiet with their family, but also loud with it.

He just really loved their family, and couldn’t wait for it to grow in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


	12. Christmas

Christmas morning was a sleepy affair in their home. Lance sort-of woke up when Keith got up early to let Kosmo outside to do his business. He stayed cuddled in the warm blankets, listening to his husband walk around the house.

“Your littler box is fine, you little diva,” he heard Keith say to Azure, who was a little bit too spoiled. Lance took full blame for that one.

He laid there for a while longer, silently willing Keith to come back to bed. It was strange, because when he was younger, he’d be the first one up. One time, he even woke up at one in the morning to see if Santa had come yet, and fell asleep beside the presents. His parents had a strict no one wakes them until seven rule, established when Luis and Veronica were only young.

Now though, he was kind of okay with sleeping in and lounging around Christmas morning. They were going to Keith’s parents’ house later, but there was no rush. The presents weren’t going anywhere, and there was nothing wrong with just enjoying the day after so much build up. For so many people it seemed like all of the joy just stopped as soon as presents were opened. That wasn’t fun at all.

Keith seemed to be on the same page as him though, since he didn’t go start the coffee pot. Instead, he came back into their room followed by Kosmo and Azure, who went back to their respective sleeping spots. Keith then climbed back into their bed, resting his head on Lance’s chest.

Lance’s arms wrapped around him as he held him close. “Merry Christmas.”

His husband hummed in acknowledgement. “Merry Christmas.” Keith squirmed a little bit, before glancing up at him. “You okay with just cuddling for a while?”

Did he  _ really _ have to ask that? Lance lit up, drawing him in closer. “That sounds like the perfect way to start Christmas.” Later might end up being a bit busy, but this time was theirs, and there was really nowhere else Lance would rather be.

It was the perfect start to Christmas Day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it! This chapter is super short and super sweet, because I didn't want to get into the details of everything. I wanted a small, super soft moment between them that speaks just as much as something longer.
> 
> Maybe I'll dive into this AU another time. We'll see!
> 
> All my socials:  
> [Tumblr](https://storiesbeyondthestars.tumblr.com/) |[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storiesbeyondthestars/) |[Stellar Sierras Instragram ](https://www.instagram.com/stellarsierras/) |[Twitter](https://twitter.com/storiesbeyond1)
> 
> Story betaed by: [Silvamoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvamoon/pseuds/Silvamoon)


End file.
